The Heroes of Time
by PsychoticEvilGenius
Summary: Dave Strider is sent to another multiverse to stop the meddling of Jack Noir and save everyone's asses. In the process, he comes across Link, another Knight of Time, and Dave can't seem to keep his eyes away. Neither can Link, apparently. Rated M for steamy chapters coming soon!
1. Ch 1: On Flighty Broads and Shenanigans

The first chapter is almost entirely homestuck, but it's actually going to be a Legend of Zelda/Homestuck crossover. Dave x Link. Rated M for what I plan to be some seriously steamy later chapters. ;)

Reviews are more than welcome. This is my first fanfiction and I have strived to avoid all the things in fanfiction that simply annoy the shit out of me: Characters acting... out of character, or using words and phrases that don't suit them, changing tenses constantly throughout the work, bad spelling and grammar, and finally, Deus ex machina and other plot devices which ignore logical explanations and say "Something is and it doesn't matter why."

Please enjoy and review!

* * *

Your name is Dave and you are bored to tears. You wouldn't have expected it to be this way, really, but no one seems to be very interested in you at the moment. Karkat and Terezi are talking to each other; they seem to have some unfinished business. Kanaya has gone off in a murderous rage to find Gamzee, who had been present for the moment after Jade teleported them, then run off as quickly as was possible. Even the mayor is too busy mourning the loss of Cantown to really pay you any notice. He keeps sniveling something about democracy and innocent lives. Your friends' same-aged parents and guardians are here, too. Everyone is busy ignoring you in favor the teenage versions of the people they'd admired, or been in contention with, their entire lives. And to top it all off, your guardian is simply too busy flirting with Jade's to even notice you.

Where is Jade, anyway? She had returned only a little while ago, worried and apologizing for her frightening appearance before. You search the area until finally you find her. She is curled up on the ground, but her arms and legs are flailing wildly in front of her. It takes you a moment to realize what she is doing. She's running in her sleep, except she's running like a dog would.

Dave: Suppress your laughter.

You fail to suppress your laughter. You are laughing so hard, Jade wakes from her sleep. You keep laughing until you realize she is staring at you, smiling, and, with some difficulty, you revert to your usual stoic expression.

" 'Sup?" You say. Jade giggles.

"Just enjoying a nice sleep when I wake up to none other than Dave Strider laughing his butt off." She says, still grinning.

"You can say ass, you know." Jade blushes.

"Whatever." She says.

"So why aren't you over there fawning over your grandfather? Or whatever the fuck he is." Jade simply raises an eyebrow and looks pointedly over to where Dirk is pushing Jake up against a slab of stone. He seems to enjoy the codpiece the other man is sporting.

"Ah." You reply, a bit relieved that you aren't the only one left out, and feeling a bit stupid for not realizing earlier that she'd be in the same situation. "It's a bit weird to think that my bro's gay. Or at least... this version is."

"We've been over this, Dave. He's not your brother. He's your father. And you're his ancestor."

"That's even weirder, man." You try to wrap your head around it, while Jade sighs. "I dunno," you continue, "it's not like I have anything against, it, but I can't imagine myself being interested in a guy, you know?"

"But you will be!" Comes a voice from behind you. It's Rose. You quickly look around to find her ancestor, only to realize that she, too, is now busy flirting. Apparently with both John AND his ancestor, Jane. You chuckle internally, managing to keep your face straight as a ruler. Which reminds you.

"What do you mean by that, Rose?"

"Oh, nothing, _bro_." Rose winks at you and you know she's lying. "I have something for you by the way." She hands you a piece of parchment with little blue and yellow symbols on it.

"The fuck?"

"You'll understand later, Dave." She smiles calmly.

"You do realize you're being more cryptic than usual." You say, raising an eyebrow at her over your shades. "And that's saying something." Rose ignores your comment and leans in next to Jade.

"Jade, I need to talk to you about something." She gives you a look that finishes the sentence for her. _"Alone."_

.

Dave: Extricate yourself from the situation.

.

You aren't sure what extricate means, and you don't really care, but you decide to leave. Maybe you can try to cheer up the mayor. You look at the piece of paper Rose gave you. There are two lines of symbols, both which appear to be on musical staves. Above the first is written "For me:" You look at the symbols: Right, Down, Right, Up, Right, A. This of course means nothing to you. You look at the song beneath it. "To gain his trust:" The yellow circles with arrows are again unintelligible: Left, up, right, left, up, right. You go over to the mayor and sit down next to him, patting him gently on the shoulder as he sobs.

"Hey bro." You try to calm him, occasionally glancing over at Rose and Jade. They seem to be talking about you, and you can't shake the feeling something big is about to happen.

* * *

Dave: Be Jade

.

You are now Jade Harley, and you aren't sure you're even capable of doing what Rose is asking of you.

"But Jade, if we can't do this, we all disappear. Not only us, but our universes. Earth, Alternia, and billions of other universes we've never even heard of. And what's worse, if Jack Noir has been interfering there, then he'll be able to escape the destruction. He'll be the only thing left of our universe. Worst case scenario for all parties."

"Alright. I'll do my best. But why only Dave?" You say, staring in his direction. "Why aren't all of us going to be there to help him out?"

"I don't know why, but I only see Dave. Space is your area of expertise, not mine."

"True enough. I've never tried to use my power to such an extent, though. It'll take all of my power and all of Bec's." You say worriedly.

"Whatever you need to do." She replies. "This is important."

"I'll do whatever it takes, Rose." She's right after all. You have to do whatever needs to be done.

* * *

Jade: Be Dave again.

.

You are now Dave Strider again, and the constant stares you're getting from Rose and Jade are starting to make you seriously uncomfortable. You could understand Jade's stare—you're a pretty hot guy after all— but Rose is your sister. Besides, you would have to be pretty stupid to actually think their stares are driven by lust, considering the expressions they are wearing. You look at Jade's face especially. Uncertainty, concern, and then... determination? That's a bit worrisome. You look at the piece of paper again. Rose is planning something for you. And you're not sure you're going to like it.

"You want me to do WHAT?" You stare at Jade and Rose incredulously, forgetting your usual calm façade. What the two of them are suggesting seems ludicrous.

"I'm going to send you to another multiverse." Jade says. "There's another Knight of Time there, in a special session. You need to help him or we're all screwed. We won't even be created unless he is victorious."

"But that doesn't make sense. We already know it was the troll's session that made our universe. And what do you mean, 'special session?'"

"Alternia's universe will also cease to exist, Dave. Our whole multiverse. Every single universe in our... I'll call it a system. There isn't really a word for it."

"That's because of the nature of the special session." Rose interjects. "There's very little literature about it, but from the tiny scattered pieces of information I could find, it's called a Cycle Session. The session repeats itself over and over in many forms, and in each, the main hero is the same, reincarnated. It appears that there are others who often reincarnate as well, but it is not consistent. Much of the information I have, in fact, is inconsistent. The only thing that remains true across all my research is that if the hero fails to win the game in one of the repeated sessions, we are all destroyed."

"But doesn't the Alpha timeline dictate what needs to happen?"

"I think time works differently for his session." Rose responded.

"Then wouldn't I be the least useful person to send?"

"Actually, Dave," Jade cuts in, "I think you're the _only_ one I can send. I mean, I'm not sure, but I have already tried to send Rose and myself and there's something... something about us that won't let us be sent through."

"What makes you think I'm any different?"

"Because I saw you there." Rose says.

"Ugh. Fine. I don't really want to argue about this shit anymore. Do your worst, Jade, baby."

You are nauseated beyond belief. When you told Jade to do her worst, you hadn't meant it literally. You sit down quickly, trying not to throw up on the boots in front of you. Wait... boots?

You slowly look up to see the baffled face of a blonde haired, blue eyed boy in a blue... is that a tunic? With tights? Yes. Yes it is. And despite the fact that the person in front of you is obviously a guy, it sort of suits him.

"Uah!" He cries, jumping back and pulling out his sword and shield. Great.


	2. Chapter 2: On Vomiting and Fairies

Note: In the previous chapter, I wrote the buttons for song of time on the sheet. I've decided to change that to Zelda's lullaby here, so please try to ignore the inconsistency! 3 The youtube track here is meant to be played during the section following the link. Make sure to open it in a new tab!

Enjoy and please review!

.

* * *

.

"Uah!" Says the blonde, jumping back and pulling out a sizable sword with an intricate blue shield. You groan.

"Look, bro. I'm not here to hurt anybody." You say weakly, still feeling the churning in your stomach. You're pretty sure you're going to hurl. Not good. You look around. Fortunately, you seem to be on a small islet in the middle of a lake. You run to the edge with the little strength you have left.

Dave: Vomit profusely

You vomit profusely into the clear waters of the lake, barely managing to clutch your shades to your face.

.

Dave: Be the other guy.

.

Not wanting the excruciating details of the vomiting process, you decide to be the other guy. Your name is Link, and you are feeling pretty sorry for the man in front of you. You realize he's wearing a cape and chuckle a bit. _Flashy. _You think. But you decide it's sort of a good look for him anyways. He heaves up another round of vomit and you feel bad for assessing his wardrobe instead of lending a hand.

"Are you alright?" You ask. You sheathe your sword and begin to put away your shield, still cautious, but no longer afraid. From the way the man in front of you is vomiting, you really doubt he'd even be _capable_ of attacking you.

"Oh yeah. I'm fantastic." He says, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. "Couldn't be..." —he pauses to vomit— "better." You approach him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"You certainly don't look fantastic." You reply. "Here." You hold out a bottled fairy.

"What do you want me to do with that?" He says, following the question with another waterfall of vomit. "Make a wish?"

"Don't tell me you've never been healed by a fairy." He manages to raise an eyebrow and shake his head weakly. "Just open the bottle and she'll help you out."

" Forgive me if I'm a bit..." he pauses again. He's just dry heaving now. "...skeptical. But I guess it's worth... a shot." You hand him the bottle and he pops the cork. The fairy escapes in a flutter, surrounding him in a pinkish glow as it circles him and vanishes. He watches it for a moment, then clutches his stomach in surprise.

"Woah." He says. "You weren't kidding." You smile.

.

Link: Be Dave again.

.

You are now Dave Strider, and you are feeling much better.

"How did you get here, anyhow?" The blonde asks. "I was about to fire my bow one moment, and the next... Oh! I missed the sunrise. Oh well. I'll come back tomorrow. "But back on point, your appearance was quite sudden. Just a flash of green and there you were."

"A friend teleported me here. Long story. Anyhow, I'm looking for the Knight of Time. Any idea where I can find him?"

"Hey!" Intrudes a high-pitched voice. Link rolls his eyes. A light blue fairy flits out of his hat. "Listen! I think he might mean you, Link! Didn't Rauru call you the Hero of Time? Maybe that's what he means!" Link sighs at the fairy's excitement as she continues to rattle on. You raise an eyebrow, looking questioningly back and forth between the blonde and the fairy.

"Oh yeah." The blonde says. "Introductions. I'm Link, and this is Navi. She's a bit of a nag, but you get used to it."

"Hey!" She squeaked.

You chuckle under your breath.

"Name's Dave. Dave Strider." You say with a smirk, shaking his extended hand. "'Sup Link?" He just smiles. Not a big talker apparently. The two of you spend a few moments in silence, just smirking and being cool.

"So... what is that over your eyes?" He asks. You suppose it shouldn't come as a shock that he's never seen sunglasses, if his outfit is anything to go by. You find yourself staring at his legs. You shake your head and bring yourself to your senses. Kanaya had said something about lighter colors drawing the eyes. That's what it was. His white tights. You regain your cool motherfucking self and answer his question.

"Just shades. Sunglasses. My eyes are sensitive to light. These help protect them."

"Ah." He says. Again, he seems to be a man of few words.

"So if you are the Knight of Time, I guess I'm supposed to help you out, bro."

"No." You are somewhat taken aback at this reply.

.

* * *

.

You don't understand why Link is being so resistant. A little more resistant than your comfort level dictates, in fact. He's pulled out his sword and holding it to your neck.

"I told you not to follow me, and yet you follow."

"I gotta do what I gotta do, man."

"Look. You seemed pretty harmless and pretty sick, so I was willing to help you, but I am _not _letting you tag along. I don't know whether or not you harbor ill intent and I am _not_ sticking around to find out. You'd only be a hindrance, anyhow."

"Chill, bro. I'm not here to hurt you, but I'm not harmless by any means."

"I have no reason to trust you, especially if what you claim is true." You suddenly remember the paper Rose gave you.

"Hang on." You say. "Can I just...?" You ask, gesturing towards your sylladex. though not entirely sure how you are able to gesture towards it. Link shrugs. You feel time suddenly stop around you. You are unable to move. You can't even move your eyes around. Everything around you is still, except for Link, who appears to be pulling something out of his sylladex, and even reorganizing it. He pulls out a bow and arrow and as time suddenly returns to normal, he knocks the arrow and holds it to your face.

"Any funny business and I shoot this straight through your skull. Other than that, feel free to pull out whatever you need to." He says menacingly. You gulp.

"You just... stopped time."

"Yes."

"I guess that proves it, then. You're definitely the guy I'm looking for."

"Get on with whatever you were doing or leave. Let me remind you of the third option, also." he says, pulling the arrow back yet another inch. You are beginning to become concerned for your own welfare, so you pull out your mixer and keyboard, along with the paper Rose gave you. This had better work. You ignore the yellow and blue symbols for now. You decide to just look at their locations on the staff and treat them as notes. You lay down a beat and start to play. Sure enough, the symbols that were marked the paper start to appear in front of you.

.

[S] Dave: Work your magic.  
**{I can't get a working link to stay put here, and it won't even allow me to enter the full url, so I'm entering the specific youtube address. Just go to youtube, and add "/****watch?v=jhlFOOyFgNk"** to the end. It's worth it, I swear. :) }

.

You're not really sure how long the notes are supposed to be, or where you're supposed to go after the first few Rose has given you, but you follow your gut and let the music and rhythms flow through your fingertips, eyes closed, simply feeling the music. You put in a riff of your own, knowing it won't interfere with the symphony of sound you're creating, holding true to the spirit of the music. You play for about 4 minutes before you drop the last few notes and finally look up.

Link has lowered his bow. He's staring at you with his mouth open.

"How... How did you know that song? Are you affiliated with the royal family?"

"No but I... My friend said that would earn your trust. She... sees things. I guess that doesn't really prove anything after all."

"Actually, I... I suppose your friend was right. I mean The royal family is known for their magic. Even someone with visions could not learn of that if they had ill intentions."

"So... you trust me?" You ask.

"I guess so..." For some reason, your heart flutters. You tell yourself you are simply surprised. Not that you should be. You're Dave motherfucking Strider. You can get out of anything.

"So I can come with you then?"

"Sure, but you still need to prove yourself."

"Huh?"

"You said you won't be a hindrance. Prove it."

"How am I gonna do that?" You ask. He grins.

"Fight me, Dave Strider."

.

Yes.

Hell yes.

Hell.

Fucking.

**_Yes._**


	3. Chapter 3: On Strifes and Kisses

Remember that smut I've been promising? Yeah, we're not there yet. But we're getting closer! For now, enjoy an epic battle and a tender kiss!

I would really love to get some reviews on here. I'm not sure what I'm doing right or wrong yet (this is the first fanfic I've published, and if memory serves, the first I've written) and it would be great to get some feedback.

Oh, and yes, Navi is supposed to make you squirm with discomfort. Isn't it wonderful? Enjoy!

* * *

You pull out your Royal Deringer (1/2 blade, of course). It has been much too long since the last time you had a good old-fashioned strife, and unlike in the countless battles you've had with your Bro, you are pretty sure you can beat this guy. You _have _reached God Tier now, after all. He eyes your weapon with skepticism.

"Should I switch swords?" He asks in a slightly mocking tone.

"Sure, if you've got a better one." you say smugly. "You're going to need all the help you can get." Link rolls his eyes and drops into a fighting stance, sword and shield at the ready. You kiss the face of the blade and do the same, gripping the intricate handle tightly. You lift one hand and extend two fingers, palm up, then curl them twice, taunting him forwards. You are so ready for this.

* * *

The strife has lasted hours so far, and it doesn't look like it's about to stop; both of you have yet to land a clean hit on the other. You're pretty proud of the hits you _have_ landed, though, considering how effectively he moves his shield. You're also pretty impressed with him for even touching you, what with all the flashsteps you've been pulling. But you know this has to end eventually. Both of you are at the edge of your stamina and you are presently locked in a stare, gasping for breath. You have to get this over with or one of you will simply collapse in exhaustion, and that doesn't make for a very epic strife when all is said and done. Link seems to have the same idea, seeing as he's dropping his shield to the ground.

"Let's get this over with." he pants, wiping the sweat-drenched bangs from his eyes. "Here's the deal. No more fancy moves. No more shields. Just you, me, and our swords."

"Done." You run at him now, letting out an ironic battlecry as he meets you head-on. Your swords clank together and the air rings with the hum of metal. _And so,_ you think, _the __real__ battle begins._

The clashing of your swords becomes an intricate rhythm, joined by the melody of your shouts and heavy breathing as you dance endlessly around each other, filling the air with music. This time, you seem to be getting somewhere. Though his reach is much longer than yours, you soon find that even without flashstepping, your speed outmatches his own, and you use this to your advantage. Over and over you dash in and make little slices at him, then dodge back again, barely out of his reach. You're doing well, but you know this won't end the battle. You need to prove complete dominance over him before you run out of stamina. You raise your blade over your head and attempt a swing at his shoulder, but he parries. Your swords are locked together, and you bring them down between you.

This is it, you realize. One of you is about to lose his sword, and the other will be victorious. You press your sword clockwise as he does the same. _How appropriate_, you think, and in that moment, his strength gives way and his sword turns full circle before being flung away. He makes a move to go after it, but you tackle him to the ground and press the edge of your half-sword to his neck with one hand, not quite hard enough to cut into his pale skin. the other hand is busy holding his hands above his head, and your legs are holding his to the ground. He's completely pinned underneath you, and you like this a little more than you should. You lean down to whisper in his pointed ear.

"If I were useless, you wouldn't be pinned to the ground right now. And if you couldn't trust me," —you press the blade against his neck just a touch harder for emphasis— "you'd be dead." You pull your face away slowly, releasing his hands and captchaloguing your sword in the process. You put your knees on either side of his body, trying to get more comfortable. He's beet red and panting.

"Well, Dave. Welcome to the party." He gives you a huge grin, and you can't help but smile back a little. It's just a one-sided smirk, though. You have to stay cool.

* * *

You just sit there for a few minutes, too tired to move and trying to catch your breath while he does the same. His breathing becomes more even, but his cheeks retain the rosy coloring, not that you mind. He's starting to look uncomfortable. Even with your eyes hidden behind your glasses, he seems to sense that you're staring at him. He averts his gaze and mumbles something.

"Hm?" You ask lazily.

"I said, _get __**off**__ of me._" He repeated more clearly, almost growling as the blush spreads all the way to the tips of his ears. You blush, too, though you're not certain why.

"Oh. Right. Sure. No, problem, bro." You swing your left leg back over him, wincing at the cuts and bruises you've sustained from the battle.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" He asks, sitting up and brushing himself off.

"I dunno. It's just a thing to call people I guess. Friends, or whatever." Suddenly, you hear a swishing sparkly sound and you know the obnoxious-sounding fairy's about to say something again.

"Hey! Link! I think he's calling you his friend!" You and Link manage to execute a perfectly synchronized X2 FACEPALM COMBO at this comment. Both of you spend a moment simply agonizing over Navi's inability to filter herself.

"Thanks, Navi. Nice to know." Link says, massaging his neck.

"You're welcome!" She says, dancing back and forth. You chuckle slightly, and see Link smile at you out of the corner of your eye.

"Think you can go scope out some tall grass for us, Nav? Both of us are gonna need to replenish our strength."

"Sure! Can do! I'm on it! Back soon!" She flits away in a shimmer of light and you realize it's dark outside. You hadn't really noticed because of your shades and because you were so lost in the heat of battle. Link pulls a bottle of milk out of his sylladex and chugs half, handing the bottle to you as his wounds quickly disappear.

"Woah. Uh, thanks, bro." Even knowing you will heal more quickly as a God Tier hero, you can't really turn down the offer of instant relief. You drink the other half and watch as your body instantly heals itself. "So... you have magic healing milk and you just sent the fairy off to find grass? Speaking of which, how does finding grass mean healing yourself?"

"Um... All milk does that. Pretty much any beverage other than water has some healing property." he says, as though that were the most obvious thing in the world. You raise your eyebrows. You'll have to remember that. You'd brought thirty bottles of apple juice with you —you had planned to divvy them out at the reunion with your friends, just to show how much you'd wanted to see them— and they might come in handy. "And there are usually hearts in the grass."

"I'm gonna assume you mean some sort of special health replenishing item, not actual hearts."

"Haha. Yeah. As for Navi, I don't really feel like dealing with her right now. She's a little dense." he says. You nod. You've barely heard her speak three sentences and you already know what he's talking about. This guy must be the epitome of patience.

"She usually minds her own business, though. Hangs out in my hat and sleeps. Every now and then she comes out to nag me about something, but it's not so bad." _Yep, _you think. _Epitome of patience, right here. Somebody get this guy a medal._ You are a bit surprised to realize how open he is after how quiet he'd been when you first met him. You lie down with your hands behind your head and look at the stars, stealing a glance at the blonde beside you from time to time. You look yet again to find that this time, he's staring at you questioningly. You start to blush again, and you're glad it's dark. Blushing isn't cool.

"So, strider..."

"Yeah?"

"What's with the ears?"

"Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing. I mean... they're all pointy and stuff. Do all humans here have that?"

"Humans?" he asks. Understanding lights your eyes, though you know he can't see it through your shades.

"Oh so you aren't human then, I guess...?"

"No. I don't even know what... And I'm supposing you are? Uhm, 'human,' I mean..." he says the word slowly, looking to you for confirmation of his pronunciation.

"Yep."

"I see." The silence hangs in the air for a moment. It's so quiet now that he jumps when you speak again.

"And you?" There is another moment of deafening silence as Link stares at his hands.

"I... well I was raised as a Kokiri, but I guess... well it's obvious now that I'm not... but it was so hard to believe... I'm Hylian. There's no denying that much now." He leans back now, mirroring your position and gently closing his eyes, his body only inches away from yours. He heaves a sigh. "It's still hard to take in, though." You aren't sure what any of this means, but the confusion and pain in his voice are obvious. You sit up again, trying to get a better look at his face. The innocence you see there is childlike, but there is also a sense of strength and determination in his expression. The juxtaposition in his features entrances you. So childlike, yet so mature. So human, and yet so... alien. You reach out to stroke his ears with your fingertips. He shudders at the touch and his eyelids flutter open as you lean in.

"Dave, what are you...?" He is silenced by the gentle touch of your lips against his, and the instant your kiss is returned, you forget to care whether or not your actions are cool, or where your journeys will lead you, or when Navi will return. All that matters to you in this one moment is that this feels right, and that you'd rather be here than anywhere else in this world or any other.


	4. Chapter 4: On Moans and Caresses

**This chapter is pure smut, guys. I swear I'll get some plot development going soon, but I just couldn't wait to get it going! 3 I also swear there's going to be some actual romance here.**

**For now, enjoy!**

**And please, whether you think my work is great, terrible, or mediocre, please write a review! I'd like to get some feedback on my work, especially early on. Thanks! **

* * *

Dave: Be the hot blonde guy.

You are already the hot blonde guy.

Dave: Be the other hot blonde guy.

You are now the other hot blonde guy, and you have never felt this incredible in your life. Then again, you have only lived 10 years. Or does it count as 17? You decide you don't care, and try to mimic the actions of the man leaning in above you, wanting him to feel the same way you do: lost in pleasure, filled with warmth, and incredibly... well, incredibly good. From the moment you had felt the other man's lips on yours, a heat had been pooling inside of you, originating from the place between your legs. You'd felt it earlier, too, when he'd been on top of you. But it was nothing like this. It's slightly painful, but at the same time it feels mind-blowingly _spectacular. _You are running out of adjectives to describe the feelings this man is eliciting in you.

He traces his tongue across your lower lip, barely touching it, and you moan slightly, parting your lips. With that, his tongue breaches you and you find it intertwining with yours. The pleasure overwhelms you and you reach one hand up to weave your fingers into his hair. The other goes to his lower back, pulling his hips to yours. All you want in the world at this moment is to breach the distance between the two of you. It seems as though you will never be close enough.

Both of you are now lying on your sides, his hips flush against yours, and you can feel his hardness against your own. You gasp. How is he so big? How are you? When did—? He grinds his hips into you, keeping your lips locked together all the while, and you completely lose your train of thought. It feels as though Din's Fire is exploding through your veins, and nothing exists but you and him. You grab at him desperately and roll your hips back against his as both of you set up a rhythm, just as you had when you were fighting, only the music now consists of low moans and sharp gasps and the quiet shuffling of fabric from the friction.

Suddenly, he rolls you onto your back and straddles you once again. You look at him again, and even as your body screams for more, you feel a pang in your chest. You want to look at him, and you want to see him looking right back. You tentatively reach a hand towards his face.

"Dave, I..." you trail off, pulling your hand back, not sure if you should ask. His voice is gentle as he responds.

"Yes?" He leans forward and tenderly caresses the side of your face with his palm. You shudder with pleasure and involuntarily thrust up again, moaning ever so slightly at the loving gesture. He leans down further, and speaks softly into your ear, his voice impossibly low.

"Link." Your breath hitches as you hear your name on his lips, and you clutch at him again. "Tell me."

Fighting against every cell in your body, you place your hands on his shoulders and push him back. Even with his shades still on, he looks somewhat hurt by the gesture.

"I want to— I mean–I..." you stutter. He starts to shift his weight away from you trying to get up. You grab his hips and hold him in place, finally finding the words.

"I want to see your eyes. Don't hide from me. Please." He gulps ever so slightly.

"Just don't... freak out." he begs. You nod. You want nothing more than to see what he's hiding. Everything he's hiding. Everything about him. He slowly reaches up to take off his shades with trembling hands. He pulls them away from his face and captchalogues them, and you are staring into vibrant red eyes, the color of blood. You gasp. He's even more beautiful than you'd imagined. Your hands move form his hips to his shoulder blades as you pull him forcefully back down to your lips, grinding against him once again. He moans into you and runs his hands along your sides. Then he places his hand on your chest and pulls his face away from yours, just out of reach. You whimper quietly, wanting more, and he smirks. There's a glint in his eyes now, and you know he's in control once again. He stares at you for just a moment before speaking.

"You're so beautiful." Your already impossibly hard erection swells even more, and whatever blood is left moves to your face as you blush. Suddenly, his head dips down into your neck and you feel a wet trail along the side of it, running from the hollow of your neck up to your earlobe. You shudder yet again, and it feels so good a tear actually falls from your eye. He takes your earlobe between his teeth and nibbles gently, then kisses his way down your jaw before taking your mouth again.

Link: Be the one in control.

You are now the one in control. Your name is Dave Strider and you will never doubt Rose Lalonde again. Though Rose is actually not even close to your thought processes at the moment. What _is_ on your mind is the writhing beauty beneath you. Link just absolutely fucking _gorgeous_ and each little moan that escapes his mouth enraptures you beyond belief. You have never felt so good in your life. You used to think Terezi was the sexiest thing you'd ever seen (other than your teenage mother, but you'd never admit that to anyone EVER because fucking duh), but again, that's the last thing on your mind at the moment. Because there is no doubt that the sexiest thing in any universe is the one you're currently kissing. His face presses up against yours, his hips doing the same, and you are fucking lost. All you can think to do is try to make the man underneath you scream your name and feel your affection in every limb, vein, and cell in his body. You shift your hips to the side for better access, then reach down and pull his tunic up. Hesitantly, you place your hand on his package, rubbing it through the thin fabric of his leggings. He breaks off the kiss in favor of uttering a loud, shameless groan as he bucks up against your hand and your hesitation vanishes instantly. You press down more firmly and set up a rhythm of rubbing and squeezing he seems more than happy to dance to. Since his mouth seems occupied with sensual vocalizations, some of which sound a great deal like your name, you move to suck at his neck instead, continuing to rub back and forth on his throbbing erection. You kiss up along his neck and suck gently at his adam's apple, then suckle your way down to his neck and bite gently where his neck connects to his shoulders, never ceasing your attentions to his groin. His back arches and he continues to thrust up against your hand, over and over, practically weeping in pleasure.

You decide to show him a little mercy.

You reach your hand into his leggings and feel the warm pulsing member underneath your hand. And you fucking love it. You tighten your hand around his shaft and begin pumping it quickly. Link is reduced to a beautiful pile of moaning and keening and thrusting and just being absolutely fucking gorgeous. His rhythm turns erratic and a confused look passes over his face.

"Wait, no, let go." _The hell?_ You don't really believe he's asking for that, so you keep pumping.

"Please, Dave! I think... I think I'm gonna pee. I don't- let go." He looks desperate, and he's blushing harder than ever. _Oh my fucking God. It can't be. _You continue pumping his erection, moving even faster now. He seems to really believe it, though. _It's his first orgasm. How the hell? I mean, he's only had wet dreams until now? Holy fuck. Just, yes. _

His legs are quivering now and he's still panicking, but you can see his mind starting to slip as the pleasure entirely overtakes him. He shudders one last breath before releasing in waves of ecstasy, moaning your name and spilling onto his dark blue tunic. You keep pumping gently until the tide of his orgasm has passed, and even though you are still rock hard and aching, you decide you'll let him have this moment.

"Um... Wow. That was. Wow." He looks at you questioningly now, his eyes somewhat distant. "What... Uh... I..." he struggles for words, still lost in the post-orgasm haze. "What _was_ that?" You chuckle now. His innocence is so sweet. So endearing. You lean in and plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

"That, Link, was an orgasm."

"It was..."

"Fucking amazing?"

"Yes. Very."

"Good."

"So... that aching feeling I had before I, you know..."

"Came?"

"Uh, yeah, if that's what it's called. But the um... tension. I mean, it felt good, but, it also felt sorta... painful? But I guess it started when my—my penis got, um, hard." _Oh-my-god-how-in-the-ever-loving-fuck-is-he-so-fuc king-innocent-and-cute-Fuck._

"Yep. That's how it works. It builds and builds until you come."

"So um..." he reaches for your crotch and grabs your very-hard cock through your God Tier pajamas. "Do you still feel that right now?" You have a little difficulty wrapping your head around the question as his hand reaches under your pants and wraps around your head. Most of your mind is occupied on that hand and what it is doing to you. _Fuck how is he so good at this? For fuck's sake I don't think he's ever even touched his __**own**__ dick._ But he's asked you a question, so you try to respond.

"Um... yeah." His thumb accidentally grazes the tip, smearing precum over the rest of the head. Your breath hitches instantly, and it doesn't fail to catch his attention. He grins at the sound.

"Let me help you." He speaks as though he doesn't already have a hand around your cock.

"Oh fuck yes." you say, closing your eyes and reveling in the sensation. His lips meet yours again, and he glides his tongue over your bottom lip.

"You taste good, Dave." The line goes straight to your groin and you thrust into his hand. _God that feels good._ You don't realize that you've moaned until he swallows it, working his tongue into your mouth.

It doesn't matter that his kiss is sloppy and his hand is unpracticed. You feel motherfucking incredible right now, and he's the only one who's ever made you feel like this. His lips pull away from you and you find yourself gazing up into his bright blue eyes. Suddenly, the awkward, innocent man from two minutes ago becomes a man made of sensuality and pure unrestrained beauty as he leans into your ear and says huskily,

"Come for me, Dave Strider."

You do.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, please review. And thank you to the person who has. You know who you are and I love you. [All of the hugs] **


	5. Ch 5: On Feathery Assholes and Horses

I want to apologize profusely for taking so long to put this up. This chapter was supposed to extend all the way to the start of the Fire Temple, but it was already getting to be much longer than my previous chapters, so I'm gonna separate them.

Please enjoy and review! Next chapter will be out tonight or in the next two to three days.

* * *

Your name is Dave Strider, and you just had the weirdest dream. Getting sent to another universe, or whatever the fuck it was, having an incredible fight with a worthy but not overpowered opponent— _those_ are pretty normal dreams for you. But gay sex? You are pretty sure you'd never had a sex dream that intense before. Link, that was his name. You had conjured up someone so ridiculously handsome and innocent and downright adorable you can hardly believe it. You are lying on your back with your eyes closed, trying to decide whether or not you should try to remember the dream to think back on later. _It was pretty hot, but... _A chill wind whips around you and you feel the wind on your exposed crotch. _The hell? Never jerked off in my sleep before, either. _You pull your hand up to your chest, and sure enough, there's a partially dried splotch of cum there. _Way to go, fuckhead,_ you think to yourself. You decide that you should probably clean that up. You will your clothes to change and you find yourself in a fresh set with everything in place as it should be. God tier pajamas are pretty fucking awesome, in your opinion. Even behind your eyelids, the sun is too bright, so you uncaptchalogue your shades and put them over your eyes. Then you sit up, slipping your fingers under your shades to rub your eyes before looking in front of you to see... the edge of a lake?

"Oh fuck." It was all real, then. All that crazy shit. You put your head in your hand, shaking it slowly. You'd exchanged handjobs with a man. A man who'd never had an orgasm before. A man you had met less than 24 hours prior. _Shit._ You look around for the man in question, and realize he's nowhere to be found.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." Rose was going to have your head for this. You'd found the man you were supposed to help, and let your raging, apparently-bisexual hormones scare him away. You'd probably never see him again. He was probably long gone by now, and you'd have no way to find him. You put your head in your hands. _He'll never want to see my face again._ The thought cuts you. It takes you a minute to realize that you're not scared of Rose and her downright deadly knitting needles. You're scared of never seeing him again. You agonize over this fact, and the fact that he is out of your reach, for a very long time. You are completely hung up over a man you've barely met. Why? Your only encounter with him was competitive, then sexual, and yet, you don't want to see him go. Or miss seeing him go, as the case may be. You don't know Link, but you definitely want to, and you are almost ready to cry over the fact that he's left you.

"Not cool, man." you reprimand yourself. "Seriously not cool."

"What's not cool?" a voice asks from your right. You jump at the voice. You know it instantly. It's the first voice you heard here—the voice you heard moan your name over and over last night. You dispel the thought, trying to salvage your dignity after startling so easily. Your face returns to its signature expression of hard stoicism.

"Nothing. Just thinking about some really lame stuff. Not a big deal." He eyes you with skepticism, but chooses to ignore it, sitting down next to you. You resist the urge to smile, though you allow yourself a small sigh of relief—barely audible even to your own ears— at the fact that he hasn't ditched you yet.

"Why the sigh?" You look up at him in surprise, keeping your face straight. _Oh, _you think, looking at him. _Pointy-eared bastard probably has better hearing than I do._

"Dude, I told you. It's nothing. Not a big deal, anyways. So where did you go just now anyways? I woke up and you weren't here."

"Oh. I woke up this morning and realized I'd completely forgotten why I'd been at the place you showed up."

"Why's that then?" He pulls an arrow out of his quiver and you realize the end is tipped with fire. _That's pretty cool. _

" 'When water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light.' That's what the sign said. I got up, realized that the sun was rising, and dashed to the center of the lake. Barely made it in time, though now that I think about it, I could've just used the Sun's Song. Guess Nayru's not too fond of me today, huh?" You raise an eyebrow at the last bit.

"And Nayru is...?" you question him.

"One of the three goddesses. Specifically, she's the Goddess of Wisdom."

"'kay." you respond. The two of you slip into easy conversation, discussing the differences between your worlds: how in his world, playing a certain song had essentially magical consequences. What cities were and the sheer number of people where you were from. The way life and recovery worked in his session. He asks if all humans have red eyes like you.

"Nah." You respond casually, pleased that he seems curious, not upset, about the color. "That's just a Strider thing. Weird colored eyes run in the family. I've only managed to cach a few glances of my Bro without his shades, but I'm pretty sure they're orange." You talk about ears and blood colors and whether or not he's hiding horns underneath his hat, and eventually your attention turns to more personal differences: likes and dislikes, hobbies (of which he has few), and friendly mockery of one anothers' outfits. It's then you realize that he doesn't appear to be sporting any stains from the previous night. When you bring it up, he tells you he went for a dip in the lake after he got the fire arrows. Inevitably, having brought up the subject of his cum, your conversation turns to more sexual venues. Not dirty talking—just him asking you questions and you answering. You thank the stars, or the goddesses or whatever, that you were bred to be cool and impassive, or you would be the most unironically flustered mess at the questions he asks. Instead, you are the perfect image of calm and collected. You answer each and every question with detail that often makes him blush a little (you simply relish those moments), and when his curiosity is finally sated, he thanks you.

"I guess I understand now. Makes a lot more sense when you say it that way. Anyways, I think that's all I need to know for now, unless there's something else you want to tell me?"

"Nah. I think you've got it, bro. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. Doctor Strider is always in." you say. He looks a bit confused at that reference, but you don't mind. You simply shrug it off and ask,

"So, mister hero, we've got some bad guy ass to kick. Where to next?"

"Death Mountain." _Ooh. Sounds pretty legit._

"HEY! LINK!" a high pitched voice shouts from nearby. You had almost forgotten about her. "I'm so sorry! I was looking for some grass and then I saw butterflies, and they were so pretty I got distracted and I fell asleep watching them!" You hear Link chuckle at her exuberance, carefully store the sound of his laughter in your memory for a rainy day, or any and every day, really. Absolutely fucking adorable.

"It's alright, Nav." he says, holding his hand out. She flits into it and nuzzles against it. "I found a bottle of milk that was still good, so we're alright now."

"Okay. As long as you're fine, so am I." She said happily. Link looked a bit guilty after hearing Navi's heartfelt display of affection.

"Ugh. Can't a guy get any sleep around here?" You tense up. _Can't be._  
"What was that, Dave?" Link asks. Okay, so it _was_ your voice. Shit.

"Caw caw, motherfuckers." _Knew it._

"Davesprite, what the _fuck_ are you doing here?" You ask as a little ball of orange feathers and irony flies up out of your pocket.

"Been here the whole fucking time, asshat. Been trying to sleep, but it's been real difficult with the vomiting and the fighting and the vomit inducing heartfelt conversations. Not to mention the noises you were making when..."

"Shut up, man." You grab Davesprite in one hand _Why the fuck is he miniature? _and turn to Link and Navi. "Give us a moment please." Link nods and you walk off. You never lost your cool, but inside you are furious.

"The fuck, man?" Davesprite asks you as you finally let go.

"Funny, I was gonna ask the same thing. You never told me you were here and then you let me—"

"Hey, man. Don't blame _me _for that shit. That was all on you. Can't control your fuckin hormones, bro. Speaking of which, who's that choice babe over there?" You glare at him and your eye twitches underneath your shades.

"What?" He says innocently.

"You're me. You should know that was never to be brought up again."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Riiight." You are certain Rose mentioned the infuriating event to him at some point, probably before she sobered up.

"Dude, I don't know what your sore spot is with that phrase, but seeing as we're kinda the same person, it shouldn't surprise you that I use the same words." You still don't completely believe him, but you decide to leave it be.

"Anyways, you still haven't told me." He says, looking towards Link.

"Um... who?"

"You know, the chick with the sweetass wings?"

"You're fucking kidding me, right? That's not even ironically funny."

"She's cute. I don't know what you're problem is."

"Whatever man. If you weren't paying enough attention—"

"You should be glad I wasn't." He interjects. You blush slightly and hope he doesn't notice.

"Well her name's Navi. Can we get back to the point at hand?"

"Sure man. I'm all fuckin ears. I mean, I was in some kind of freak accident and they had to completely rebuild my skin and muscles and it just wasn't working and then a bunch of people died but they had used all their other body parts on other people, so they just remade me with ears. That's how all ears I am."

"First up, why are you here? Thought only I could get here?"

"I was in that necklace in your pocket. You forgot you had it didn't you?"

"Um..."

"Dumbass."

"Shut up."

"And I'm still the Knight of Time, so the same shit probably applies."

"Kay. Next: Why so tiny?"

"Travel sized."

"Hilarious."

"Honestly I dunno. I think I could change back if I wanted to, but I think it's the default here or something."

"So you're not changing back because?"

"..."

"It's the fairy, isn't it?"

"Shut up." He says. You resist the urge to smirk at him.

"I didn't say a fucking thing."

"You were thinking it, asshole."

"So what's the draw anyways? I mean, she's a sparkly little ball of light with an annoying voice."

"Nothin in particular. None of your business anyways." You raise an eyebrow and the two of you stare silently at each other for a moment. He crosses his arms.

"Oh. My. Fucking. God." You finally say.

"What?" he bristles.

"It's because she's sparkly, isn't it?"

"It's! No! I! Shut up!"

Dave: Resist the urge to laugh.

You fail to resist the urge. Your sides are splitting and you feel as though you are going to die from laughter. Davesprite looks furious, so you assume you were right. This only makes you laugh harder. Link is looking over at you now, and he and Navi start to approach.

"If you say a single fucking word, I will murder you and convince everyone you were in love with Karkat."

"Not a word, bro. And by the way, you have my blessing." You say, still chuckling. He glares in response.

"You okay, Dave?" Link asks, within hearing range now.

"Yeah, sorry. Davesprite here said something pretty hilarious. Inside joke. Davesprite, this is Link and Navi." You say, gesturing to them. "Link, Navi, this is what I would look like if you combined me with a crow and a shitty sword."

"Shut the fuck up, man."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Davesprite." Link says genuinely.

"Yeah! It'll be fun to have another fairy around, won't it Link?" Navi says.

"Hold up, there. I'm a sprite, not a fairy."

"Well I'm still happy to see you!" She flits up to him and... well you suppose she pecks him on the cheek. Sort of hard to tell since she doesn't have a face. Link giggles.

"Well we'd best be off, then. I need to get the fire medallion next."

"Well we'd best get a fucking move on, then."

"Sure. Come on, then. I've got a friend waiting."

"_Another _one?" you ask. Link only chuckles.

"Cagey green asshat."

* * *

Dave: Be the cagey green asshat.

You are now the cagey asshat, and Dave's reaction to Epona is somewhat amusing. The aforementioned comedian is staring up at her with his eyebrows far past his hairline and fists clenched tightly. You can't help but laugh.

"It's not as though she's gonna hurt you." you assure him.

"I'm not worried about that anyways!" he snaps back. "It's just... big."

"She, Dave. She. Her name's Epona." Suddenly the nonchalant cool-kid demeanor returns to Dave's face and he smirks at you.

"Couldn't resist a prime dirty joke to make there, though."

"You just made my horse a metaphor for a penis."

"Fuck yes."

"And you are not even remotely apologetic."

"Hell no."

"I love Epona."

"You also love your penis."

"That's... No." Dave continues to smirk at you until Epona makes a small snort. Then he's back to looking terrified of her. You walk over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Dave. You reach your left hand down to his and pick it up. "Unclench your fist." To your surprise, he obeys. "Alright, now just move with me and relax." You bring his hand up under Epona's nose and let her sniff it. His hand shakes ever so slightly in yours and you smile. Once Epona seems appeased, you let his hand drop back to his side. "Okay, now just reach up and stroke her neck." He turns back to face you, glaning nervously at Epona, and raises an eyebrow, somehow returning to his typical sarcastic stoicism. "Dave. Trust me." He does. He reaches a tentative hand towards her and you wrap your right hand around the one he's not using while approaching Epona and stroking her nose. "It's okay, girl. He's nice. Just a bit scared."

"Dude. I'm not scared."

"Liar." you say, turning back to him momentarily. As if to prove you wrong, he places his hand on Epona's neck and brushes slowly, following the natural grain of her coat.

"This... isn't so bad."

"Have you never been around a horse before, Dave?"

"Me? Sure I have. Yeah, I'm just freaking the fuck out cause I see horses all the fucking time in the hugeass city I'm from. They're just so common I flip out when I'm near one. I do a fifty flip somersault off the olympic high dive when I see things that are normal. HOLY FUCK IT'S A BLADE OF GRASS!"

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" you reply, grinning. You have no idea what an olympic high dive is, but it sounds like an amusing metaphor anyhow. Maybe it's the way he's just barely blushing under that ridiculous eyewear of his. "You alright now?"

"I was alright anyways."

"Right. So you think you can ride with me?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Good. I'll help you on. Just go to her side and press (A)."

"Excuse me?"


	6. Chapter 6: On Sleeping Bags and Spiders

I am SO SO SORRY about the long wait for this chapter, my darlings. A lot of emotional, educational, and professional stuff has been going on lately, all at once, and I all but forgot about this fanfiction. I've been just dying to continue, though, and I've finally completed another chapter. Also, I had writer's block on this chapter for a while, so I started working on the second to last one. XD

Despite being a super long wait, the chapter's kinda short, too. -_- Sorry. I'll make up for it next time!

Chapter updates may continue to be a bit slow, but there won't be another giant pause like this one. The next chapter will take at least two weeks to post, as I'm going to be on vacation for that time with no internet connection for much of it. After that, I will hopefully be posting more regularly. I love you all so much! Mwah! 3

* * *

To your surprise, riding the horse doesn't seem terribly difficult. That, said, you aren't the one in control. Link taught you how to get on and off, and then pulled himself up, pulling you after him. Since then, all you've had to do is wrap your arms around his waist and hang on, which, while you'd never admit it to anyone, is something you don't mind doing anyhow. Fucking bitch ass hormones. You nuzzle closer into the warmth of the man in front of you and breath in his scent as subtly as you can. He smells like chamomile and earth. It soothes you, despite the jostling of the horse beneath you. You close your eyes and lay your head against his back, keeping your arms tightly wrapped around him so as not to fall.

"You alright back there, Dave?"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Fine." You open your eyes again and survey your surroundings. You hadn't really been paying them much attention before. You are in a great field which seems to stretch on for miles and miles, and your small group appears to be traversing the outer edges of it in a sort of counterclockwise circle. In front and to your right, you see a giant mountain surrounded in a ring of smoke.

"That Death Mountain?" you mumble into his shoulder.

"Yeah. I think we should take a few days before heading to the dungeon there, though. I need to rest up first, as I've been fighting almost nonstop for the last week. That alright with you?"

"Oh, sure. No problem, bro." you say lazily. Directly to your right, you see an opening in the endless stone wall, surrounded by trees. Link has stopped the horse and is staring at the entrance.

"Actually, maybe we should go take a trip to my home. I can introduce you to Sa‑" his words stop cold and you can feel his body tense up under your hands. When he speaks again, his voice is laced with ice. "Never mind." He set the horse off again, faster than before.

"Why...?" your voice trails off, the question implied in the first word.

"She's not there anymore." his tone ends the conversation, but you know you won't let this drop. Your curiosity —and the pain in his voice— won't allow it. You'll bring it up again, but you're pretty certain it isn't the right time. You both sit in silence for a while until the sun begins to set. Link looks up at the sky.

"We should've started earlier in the day. We're almost to Kakariko Village, but even so, I think we should make camp for the night."

"S'all fine with me." you remark as he brings his horse to a halt.

"This place is as good as any, I suppose." He dismounts carefully then helps you down.

"You stay here and start setting up camp. Here's my bag." he says, tossing you a belted pouch. "I'm going to go make sure there aren't any enemies in the area."

"Sure." you respond casually. As he walks away, you glance at the belt pouch. _Apparently they don't have sylladex cards here. Kinda wonder how he keeps all his shit in this little pouch though._ You open it up to find a sort of inventory system. _Oh. I heard they'd been working on this. Super simple design. Limited storage space but no complications on the withdrawal system. I guess in his univere they already have these. Nice._ You proceed to set up camp, though you have a little difficulty with the fire. —you aren't a boy scout for fuck's sake— and then you rifle through your own things. You come across the note Rose gave you. You'd entirely forgotten about the other song she'd included. "For me." it said. Maybe you could speak with her somehow. You pull out your keyboard and beat machine and play the song. A lavender colored light surrounds you and you hear Rose's voice as though she's standing right in front of you. "Dave. I knew you'd get in touch with me eventually. Hang on. Is there any chance of gaining some measure of assistance? Psychic links aren't exactly my line of specialty."

"3H3H3H3H3H3." You'd know that laugh anywhere. "SUR3 THING, ROS13. :]"

"While your ability to interject your customary typing quirk into verbal —or in this case verbal and psychic— interactions as well as your prose baffles me, I wish you would focus more of your energy on clarifying the communications between myself and Dave." You hear Terezi sigh.

"Fine. Hang on a moment." An image of Rose suddenly snaps in front of you in the lavender glow.

"Ah. That is certainly an improvement." She turns her head over her shoulder and calls out, "Thank you Terezi."

"How are you doing Dave? Getting along with your new friend?"

"Getting along fine, thanks."

"Told you so."

"Shut up."

"Regardless, Dave, I'm glad you've finally decided to contact me. I was seriously considering just dropping something on your head."

"Because that makes as much sense as keeping your pet shark in a fishbowl."

"Actually, Dave, you'll find it makes far more sense than that, though I'm sure Jade would be capable of such a feat."

"Yay. We can all have miniature pet sharks."

"Yes, if only we could get our hands on some sharks to begin with. Back to the subject at hand, Jade has been experimenting, and it seems we can actually transport items into the session you're in. Considering that fact in combination with Jack Noir's presence in said session, it seems likely that the only thing we _can't _send is a hero whose title does not already exist in the subsession."

"Point?"

"Want a sleeping bag?"

"Hell yes." Rose nods to her left, and there's a flash of green in the air. You look up to see a red sleeping bag a few feet above your head before it falls and smashes you in the face. You hear Jade and Terezi giggle, and when you pull the sleeping bag down, you see Rose is smiling as well. "Thank you so much for laughing at my expense." Suddenly, you hear Link's voice from behind you.

"Oh. Who's this, Dave?" He doesn't seem even remotely surprised by the lavender glow and the translucent girl in front of you. Must be commonplace here or something.

"Rose, Link. Link, Rose."

"Ah. Link! I've heard so much about you."

"Liar." You accuse.

"Alright. _Seen_ so much about you. Same thing."

"Except that one involves me babbling like an idiot."

"So this is the friend who sent you here?" Link asks you.

"Not exactly."

"That would be this one, here." Rose says, pulling Jade by the arm into the image.

"Hi! I'm Jade!"

"Uh, hi, Jade. I know this sounds a little weird, but thanks... for sending him." You try not to blush, you really do, but you can feel the heat rising in your cheeks. You cough in an attempt to hide it, but as you watch Jade's smile grow ever wider, you realize you've failed.

"You're welcome." She follows the statement with a giggle, and an awkward silence follows right behind. You decide it's about time to cut in.  
"Rose? You still there?"  
"Yes Dave. What would you like?"  
"Well I just wanted to know what this means as a whole."  
"Ah. Well, quite simply, we'll be trying to send someone else over to join you if we can. The more we can get on this, the better. I don't know what Jack's up to, but it can't be good, and I don't really want to risk anything."

"Who?" you ask. Jade pops back in and replies.

"It's not that easy, Dave. I have to try every individual. We don't know who's going to make it, and Rose's visions have been glitching up. Actually, the little pixely bits are all around us, as well. The point is, it's going to take a little time to determine who else is going to enter with you."  
"Alright Jade. I won't pester you. You know me."  
"Sure do. Anyways, Rose and I should probably wish you two goodnight. You look a bit tired." Rose smiles serenely at this comment, and you just _know _she's about to make a snarky comment.

"Yes, Dave, _sleep _well. You must be _exhausted _from the shock of everything and I'm sure you'll sleep..." she wiggles her eyebrows, "better than you have in a long while." And there it is.  
"Rose, I'm gonna sleep like a fucking bear in the middle of winter. Except that I'm not gonna spend months gaining a ton of weight first, I'm just gonna go straight to sleep and if anyone tries to fucking wake me up I'll bite their heads off for a midwinter snack and growl in a satisfied manner as their blood drips down my chin."  
"I think that one got away from you a bit."  
"Yeah..."

"Goodnight, you two." She smiles serenely and the lavender glow dissipates. You pick up the red sleeping bag and start laying it out on the ground, then cast a glance over at Link. He's simply standing there, smiling at you.

"What?"

"You have good friends, that's all."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. What about your friends?"  
"Me? I don't really have any friends, save Navi. And I suppose if Zelda's still out there somewhere she may consider me a friend still. It must seem so long ago to her... Everyone else I know is merely an acquaintance. But Navi is as good a friend as any, and you seem to be a good friend, too." You silently curse the word _friend_—you definitely want to be more than that— and wonder why he's still smiling after saying that he has next to no real friends. Then you remember... Maybe now is a better time?

"What about that girl you were talking about earlier? You said she's... gone?" The ever-present smile on his face vanishes before your eyes like a spider washed down the drain.

"You mean Saria. She... She's become the Sage of the Forest. She's helping to save Hyrule from the clutches of Ganondorf. It's noble of her to do that, to give up the rest of her life to that calling, but... I miss her already." He bows his head and crosses his arms across his chest, clearly distressed. You may not be the most well versed in showing affection, and you're not even sure you can do so correctly, but it suddenly seems like a damn good time to start trying. You will your feet to close the small distance between you and hesitantly wrap your arms around him, holding him securely. In response he unfolds his arms and returns your embrace, and you can hear him suppress a sob next to your ear as he buries his face in your shoulder. You place one hand gently on the back of his head, as the other rubs soothingly up and down his back.

"Dave." he says quietly.

"Hm?"

"Can you..." he mumbles something indiscernible into your shoulder.

"What is it, Link?"  
"Um. Can you kiss me... again?" You don't respond directly. Instead you merely smile and press your lips to his, tasting the salt of his tears, and move your hand from the back of his head to softly cradle the side of his face, wiping the wet trails of sadness away. The kiss is tender and warm and perfect, and as you both pull away and stare into each other's eyes, a smile creeps back into his features. You smile back.

_The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.  
Down came the rain and washed the spider out._

_Up came the sun and dried up all the rain,_

_and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again._


	7. Chapter 7: On Mossy Undergrowth and Cake

_I'm back from vacation and through my first week of school! Now that I have my schedule down, updates should come more often. Expect one once a week or every other week. Enjoy, m'dears!_

_I probably should've mentioned this in the first chapter I brought up Davesprite, but despite John's assumption to the contrary, I'm saying that while sprites can be summoned from a distance by the necklaces, they can also live in them if they choose to. I'm kind of assuming Davesprite has his own pimped out room within the necklace, but can still hear the outside world._

* * *

**Dave: give the lovebirds a little space and be the other bird... er, guy, who's also sort of you?...**

You are now the other guy... bird... birdguy...?

You know what? Fuck it. Your name is Davesprite and you are sick of dithering around thinking about semantics while your alternate non-bird self gets sappy with some prettyboy. The only problem is that when you're escaping your genie necklace whatchamacallit, they're gonna see you, and you don't really feel like a confrontation. Maybe you can utilize this size-changing thing to get away. You're pretty sure you can control it, though you don't have a direct understanding of how.

"Mmmh"

Oh sweet baby jesus with a kitten. They're making out now. You'd better get out of here fast before they pick up the pace. You decide to just think small and hope it does what you want it to. Focusing on that, you fly out into the open and take a look around. Seems like it worked. Sweet. Still, you'd better get going. You're pretty small, but a a bright orange glow is still pretty obvious in the move away hastily, trying not to hear the sounds of pleasure coming from behind you, when you hear a shimmery sound off to the left and a soft bluish white glow streaks by you.

"Navi?" You call after her. She seems too far to hear you already, but if she heard, she's showing no signs of slowing. You follow after her, wondering why she seems so hurried. Keeping up with her is surprisingly difficult, and eventually you lose track of her, but the only place in the area she could have gone is through a large hollowed out tree that formed a sort of makeshift tunnel. You pass through and find yourself in a very different type of place. Floating on a small suspension bridgeyou take a look around and see that you're in some sort of forest. Navi's nowhere to be found, but there's another tunnel up ahead. As you approachthe tunnel, you hear a quiet sobbing. _That's probably her, _you think. You walk through to find her, wondering what to say. You don't have much experience with crying girls, aside from Jade. But that was your own fault, really, so you doubt there was mch you could've done to help her calm down. In hindsight, you wish Rose had been there. John was probably not the best shoulder to cry on, either. Once on the other end of the tunnel, you look around again only to realize that you still haven't caught up with the ingénue in question and the sound you'd been hearing was now echoing from another tunnel. You roll your eyes behind your bright orange shades and trudge, erm, float onwards. You spend a long while searching the forest for her . You aren't sure how long it is as, ironically, you have a terrible sense of time, but the sky is nearly black by the time you finally find her. The area is small, dominated by a single dead tree, and mostly covered in a soft blanket of undergrowth. There is now a loud shuffling accompanying Navi's gentle sobs which you find extremely annoying. Apparently, navi agrees with your assessment.

"SHUT UP! I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE BUT YOU JUST KEEP TURNING AND TURNING AND IT'S TOO LOUD! UGH! IF LINK WERE HERE HE'D..." She cuts off her rant and begins sobbing again. You figure it can't hurt to give the lady a hand. You fly around to the other side of the tree and see a giant weird-looking spider. It's quite a bit lrger than you are at the moment, but you've dealt with far worse in the past. You pull out a shitty sword and slice the bastard in two, picking up the small golden trophy that drops from it.

"Link?"

"No, "

"...Dave what are you doing here?"

"I'm not Dave. Well, I am Dave, but I'm the other Dave. The bullshit Dave with bird par-"

"I don't care. Go away." you notice that her voice isn't quite so high pitched as usual.

"But you're crying. You don't have to talk to me, but you shouldn't cry alone. You can just pretend I'm like some super bullshit pet dressed up in a shitty Halloween costume. Like Junior Birdman except I don't have a shit song and I have actual wings and I wear shades instead of goggles. So I guess that makes it a shitty costume of a shitty character, but I'm still a pet so I'm not gonna talk back and shit. Unless you want me to. Which I guess would make me like an animal in a cartoon. You know, when they tell kids about how to solve their problems. It's like So Dear To My Heart except they talked about Columbus proving the world was round which is a giant pile of steaming shit coming out of a horse's ass, 'cause he was an idiot who thought "hey let's get to India and ignore the fact that there's a HUGEASS ocean there that will kill us because I don't listen to the people who say how big the earth is and its motherfucking huge" and then accidentally ran into America which saved his bitch ass." You hear another sob and facepalm. _Way to go, idiot. You're the best fucking therapist EVER. _The sound comes again and you decide you ought to ought to take your leave now before you make a complete idiot of yourself _again. _

"Sorry, I'll just go..."

"No wait, please." As she speaks, you realize that it's not a sob but a giggle. _Significant improvement, _you think. "You're right. I don't really want to be alone." She sighs heavily. "Come and sit with me."

"You'll have to tell me where you are first." You see a small shimmering hand stick up through the undergrowth and wave you over.

"Over here." You drift over to her and burrow under the mossy covering.

"So you have hands? Color me surprised" you say, planting the end of your sword into the ground.

"Hey! That's mean!" She accuses. "And you're colored enough as it is." She stands to face you and you can finally see her. Her eyes are rimmed with red, almost certainly a result of the crying. She has a soft glow in the surrounding darkness and her wings completely dwarf her tiny body. A body which you immediately notice is entirely unclothed. She is perhaps the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. You do your best to look away and, difficult though it may be, you manage. It's obviously not the time for your legendary Strider libido to take center stage.

"Well, to be fair, you just looked like a ball of light and wings before."  
"Why would a ball of light need wings?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh. Hadn't really considered that... Uh, It's not really my place, but could you maybe, um, cover yourself, please?"

"What? OH!" A blush rises in her cheeks and she grabs for a piece of moss, wrapping is around herself quickly. "Sorry, I..."

"It's okay I just didn't..."

"Yeah, usually I don't have to but..."

"Why is that?"

"Oh. I'm just so bright it doesn't really matter usually." She says, now intent on shaping the moss comfortably to her body.

"Well, yeah. But... why aren't you right now?"  
"Ah... When I'm tired or really sad, I just" she pauses to find the words, "I just start to fade."

"From the crying, I'd guess it was the second option, yeah?" Navi hangs her head and nods slightly, another tear forming at the corner of her eye. "Do you want me to ask why?" you say gently, moving forward and gingerly wiping the tear from her face. She bites her lip and shakes her head, blinking away more tears. "C'mere." you coax, opening your arms to her. She gladly accepts your invitation, folding her paper thin wings and burying her face in the downy feathers around your neck. You wrap her arms around her as she wraps hers around your waist. You rub her back gently, trying to quell the tears. "It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine." The two of you share in the silence for a time, basking in the faint glow of each others' light and warmth, before she pulls away with a ghosted smile and sits down on the forest floor, patting the ground next to her. You sit alongside her and she leans up next to you, absentmindedly stroking the soft downy covering on your chest. It feels nice – soothing. You rifle your fingers through her short silky hair in the hopes that it has the same effect for her. She relaxes into your side and casts a melancholy glance up at you.

"It's Link." she murmurs. _Ah, so she already has someone on her mind._  
"You like him." It isn't a question. She nods.

"But he hardly seems to notice me. It was bad enough before and then Dave came along and suddenly it seems like I don't have a chance in the world." She lets out another quiet sniffle and you can feel the tears on your shoulder. You let the silence hang in the air for a moment as you search for the right words.

"Do you love him?"

"Maybe."  
"That's not an answer, Navi."

"He's handsome, kind, and smart. Strong, too. I thought I was supposed to protect him but he's so capable already I feel... useless. I end up pestering him instead of helping him. He masters everything he does so easily and he's a hero, inside and out."

"But do you _love_ him?"

"He's everything I want in a man." She says, as though that settles it.

"Look at me, Nav." She flinches at the casual nickname. "Navi." She looks into your face questioningly. "That's not necessarily love. That's like handing someone a bowl of flour, eggs, sugar, baking soda, vanilla, orange peel, raspberry jam, powdered sugar, and almonds and telling them it's the best princess cake you've ever eaten. Because many things can contribute to love, but just because you have all the best ingredients doesn't mean it IS love. Because love... love changes you, Navi. If the other Dave and I are different, it's because of that." Tears form in your eyes as her gaze meets yours. "We act the same a lot of the time, sure. And we're both still Dave. But we've experienced love very differently. And underneath the cool and the irony and the aviator sunglasses, we're pretty different."

"No."

"Why wou-"

"No I don't love him. Not the way you love... whoever it is."

"I'm not in love with him anymore. It changed over time. Became what I thought it had been from the beginning. I only realized I'd been in love with him when he died. It's strange. In a way, that death created me. But I healed. I loved him, but first and foremost he was my best bro. He gave me these, you know." you say, gesturing to the sunglasses. "He's not dead anymore. Or, I suppose, in this timeline he never was, but I remember him dying. When I went back to where he was alive, I realized he wasn't my John anymore, even though he was the same John who'd left me. Over time, I let the love go. We're just friends now. Bros." You smile calmly at Navi. "Sorry. Guess I'm rambling again."

"No, it's fine." She reaches up and cards her fingers through your hair. "I think I understand a little better. It still hurts that he wants Da — other Dave over me, though." You laugh halfheartedly.

"Jealousy always does. And even a crush is enough to cause a good deal of pain. But I promise, Navi, you're gonna be just fine." You smile at her. Slowly, the two of you lean back look up at the stars peeking through the leaves and moss. Navi places her head on your chest —right over your heart— and wraps drapes her arm across you.

"Thank you, Dave. I'm glad you were here. That skulltulla was shit company." You grin back at her playfully.

"Call me any time you need a night in feathery armor, milady."

"You can count on it." she says with a smile. Her fragile frame shivers against you, and you pull her closer and wrap your wings around her to protect her from the cold.

"Goodnight, Navi."  
"Goodnight, Dave."


End file.
